A blog about me, my Standard Poodle, Teddy, and whatever else I feel like including.
"[Poodles] are Labradors with a college education. After a day of retrieving, your Lab wants to curl up and snore in front of the fire. A poodle wants to be a fourth at bridge and tell naughty stories." -Anne Rogers Clark

Saturday, August 29, 2009

WCFO International Conference

Teddy and I have been training hard all summer to prepare for the World Canine Freestyle Organization's International Conference that took place this year in Oklahoma City. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot. The hotel that hosted the conference was perfect for a dog show. It had a large grassy courtyard that was completely enclosed so that we could turn the dogs loose to play.

Me & JoJo & Teddy with Michele Pouliot and Yvonne Koehler & Aspen

On Wednesday, we attended a seminar all morning and watched the Pro Stars compete in the afternoon. On Thursday and Friday, it was Teddy and I's turn to compete. We performed routines in the Beginner's B Heelwork to Music and Intermediate Musical Freestyle categories. I was very proud of Teddy, he was up and did not seem stressed on the first day. He probably did just about the best he has ever done in competition. On Thursday, we placed first in Beginner's Heelwork, earned a leg, and won a trophy for high scoring beginner dog. In Intermediate Freestyle we placed second and earned a leg.

On Friday, Teddy was much more tired and therefore stressed. When Teddy is like this he is noticeably more distracted and disconnected. We did not do as well as the day before. We missed qualifying in Intermediate Freestyle by 1/10th of a point, but still placed first. However, in Beginner's Heelwork to Music, we placed second and earned a leg, finishing our title. We also won best best collar.

Saturday and Sunday were spent in workshops and learning about training techniques from some top trainers and freestylers. I learned a lot and can't wait to start implementing some ideas. I even got to work JoJo, my then 15 week old puppy, which was fun. This was JoJo's first roadtrip, and I'm so glad that he got to tag along. The experience was priceless for him to get to be around a lot of other people and dogs. He had a blast and was so good in the hotel and crating room.

And here is our Intermediate Musical Freestyle routine. I realized about 3 months ago that the original choreography that I had for this routine was just not working for us. I had an extra prop that was a hula hoop and moves that Teddy did not enjoy. So, I changed about 75% of the choreography. I realized that because of the camera angle, you can't really see my prop. It's a large clock face.